UHS U-Drink water bottle filling stations 2015

University High School

To promote reusable water bottle use, the students on the University High School Stewardship Council discovered that there needed to be easier ways for students to fill water bottles in their school. With their Carmel Green Teen grant, they purchased and installed a water bottle filling station and and worked with the Athletic Department to purchase a second station. Initial estimates suggest that these stations have led to the reduction of at least 80 plastic disposable water bottles daily each.

Encouraging students and staff to reuse bottles filled with tap water by installing water bottle filling stations is one step that the UHS community took to reduce the financial, environmental, and social impacts of their present disposable water bottle use.

Water bottle filling stations were installed with a retrofit unit placed over an existing water fountain. This was the easiest and least expensive approach. Students enjoy both the environmental and cost savings of using refillable water bottles.

The University High School Stewardship Council consists of representatives elected from each class. By purchasing and installing water bottle refilling stations, students and staff have greatly reduce the amount of disposable water bottles at their school and have saved money in the process.

Many people use disposable water bottles because they are cheap, convenient, and more healthy than soda. To find out more about the long term costs of using disposable water bottles please take the time to view these videos.